Posted on 05/30/2023 9:36:27 AM PDT by Morgana
A South Carolina gas station owner has been charged with murder for shooting a 14-year-old armed teenage boy in the back because he thought he'd stolen bottled water.
Rick Chow, 58, is the owner of a Shell gas station in Columbia, South Carolina. On Sunday night at 8pm, Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a 14-year-old teenager, entered his store while visiting family in town.
Chow and his adult son - who police say are regularly besieged by shoplifters - suspected Cyrus of trying to steal bottled water.
Surveillance footage proves he did not take anything. When Chow and his son confronted Cyrus, he started running away.
Chow's son gave chase, running after him into the street. It was then that he realized the 14-year-old was armed, and shouted to his father that he had a gun.
Chow, who owns a pistol, shot Cyrus once in the back and the teenager died as a result.
Now, the store owner has been charged with murder.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Oh, you're no fun anymore!
From reading other articles online, it seems that the sheriff is tap dancing around some issues to avoid a “peaceful protest”.
The only information in the report about the kid having a gun was just a statement by the store owners son that he saw a gun on the kid. That statment did not say the “kid pulled a gun”, only that a gun was seen, and only from a statment by the store owners son. Time will tell if more evidence comes out or if the son’s statment is contradicted by evidence.
You cannot judge the fairness of this charge until the surveillance footage has been released to the public.
...shot in the back...
Can’t shoot scum bags in the back.
“Little bastard shot me in the ass.”
Unless the person had was attempting to use the gun to harm this man, simply possession of a firearm by someone, is not justification for shooting in self defense.
Given they haven’t shown any video of this situation, simple seeing someone has a gun on their person, even if they steal a bottle of water does not give you the right to use deadly force against them legally.
If this kid went for the gun and the store owner shot him, no problem. If however this guy shot without provocation, and no, stealing of a bottle of water is not provocation for shooting the thief, even if they have a gun on their person.
I am more than happy to wait to see if there is more information coming about this, if the thief went for his gun, the store owner acted in self defense. If he didn’t he committed murder.
All he had to do is yell, “It’s comin’ right for us!”
“but unless he pulled it out”
Well, the guy chasing him saw it, so there’s definitely a possibility that he pulled it out.
“Why on earth do they have their stores in black communities? Why not in white ones”
Because your average first generation immigrant family from Asia can’t afford to buy stores in white neighborhoods. And they very much want to get in on the benefits of capitalism that you can only get from owning your own business. So they take the opportunities that are available.
I wonder if it’s possible to sue Jennifer for her defamation of the store owner?
“A South Carolina gas station owner has been charged with murder for shooting a 14-year-old armed teenage boy in the back because he thought he’d stolen bottled water.”
FB thread from the victim’s family is devolving into a call to boycott Asia. businesses. “tThey needs us more ghan we needs them,” is the attitude. Why don’t blacks open convenience stores in black communities?
Too bad he broke the law because it sounds like he did society a great service.
You can’t run after someone and shoot them out of anger or to stop them from stealing. It doesn’t matter what state you’re in. If your life is not being threatened (or someone elses life) you can’t use deadly force. Even if you are acquitted your whole life is ruined with legal bills, civil suits etc.
I’m sure this “victim” was a young thug but he should not have gotten killed because the store owners were sick and tired of being robbed
This very well may be true, but this solely from the County's account of the incident without any independent corroboration or evidence.
I have been a juror in a trial where the Police's emphatic account of an incident was completely refuted by their own dashcam video, thus resulting in an acquittal.
Of course this was wrong, but when you are “regularly besieged by shoplifters’ it takes a toll on anyone trying to run a small business (where you actually need to earn a living and support your family, as opposed to corporations that just write the theft off).
Could it be that the powers that be want to discourage people from owning their own businesses, and this is certainly one way to do it.
Trials are a good thing. A very good thing.
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